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I 


398 


APPENDIX No. 11. 


STRICTURES UPON GOV. FORD'S HISTORY OF THE BLACK 
HAWK WAR, 

BY MAJOR PETER PAEKISON, JR. 

II 

Madison, Sept. 10, 1854. 
Mr. Brown, Editor of the Argus & Democrat: 

Dear Sir :—Upon my arrival in this place, a few days since, 
my attention was called to a couple of chapters of Gov. Ford’s 
History of Illinois, published in your paper, purporting to be a 
true history of a portion of the Black Hawk war , in which the 
manifest object of the historian is so apparent, and the means 
made use of to accomplish that object are so unsupported by 
truth, that I (as one who was an eye witness to nearly all the cir¬ 
cumstances pretended to be given in those two chapters, and 
one who is unwilling that the public mind should be misled upon 
this subject) am constrained to give them a passing notice. 

In the first place, it is not true, as stated in Gov. Ford’s His¬ 
tory, that Gen. Dodge endeavored to avoid going from Fort Win¬ 
nebago to the rapids of Bock Biver (where the enemy was then 
supposed to be) in consequence of the worn down condition of his 
horses; neither did he refuse to go without written orders from 
Gen. Henry. The facts are, that Gen. Dodge was the first to 
suggest and urge this course to Gens. Henry and Alexander— 
Gen. Henry assenting, and Gen. Alexander dissenting. This was 
the universal understanding at the time by all parties. I have 
since been informed by Col. Daniel M. Pareison, of Lafayette 
50 




394 


£ S3 , 

• S3 
'Hi 

county, who commanded a company under Gen. Dodge at the 
time, and who was an intimate friend of both Gen. Dodge and 
Gen. Henry, that such was the fact, that he was present and 
heard the conversation. 

Neither is it true, that Gen. Henry’s men and officers attempted 
to mutinize at this place. I deem it quite unfair as well as un¬ 
generous in the extreme, to detract from the merit of Gen. Hen¬ 
ry’s men and officers, and every body else, for the purpose of 
making a Gen. Jackson of Gen. Henry— a thing which Gen. 
Henry would never have done; he was a brave and generous 
man, and no man esteemed him higher than I did. I had known 
him from my boyhood, and he had been one of my father’s warm¬ 
est and most intimate friends for more than ten years. But at the 
same time, many of his friends and officers were my friends and 
intimate acquaintances, and are yet living, and it is but justice 
to them that I should repel this slander.* 

From this point Gen. Dodge was certainly the main-spring, the 
life and energy of the army, suggesting and planning all its 
movements; and none could be mistaken in this particular who 
were present, and unprejudiced. This was but natural, and can 
be said without any just prejudice to the reputation of Gen. 
Henry. Gen. Dodge had acquired a high reputation as a military 
man, and as an Indian fighter. He was well acquainted with the 
country, with the Winnebagoes, (who were our guides), with Mr. 
Poqtjette, (who was our interpreter); and Gen. Henry was not 
so vain-glorious, as to be unwilling to be governed by the sugges¬ 
tions of Gen. Dodge. 

Many particulars on the march from this Point, (Fort Winne- 
bago), to the Wisconsin, are very incorrectly given, and many 
omitted by Gov. Ford. But as it is not my purpose, upon the 
present occasion, to point out all of the mistakes of Gov. Ford, 
only where they effect the parties concerned, I will only notice 

*It would a PP ear tti at there was, after all, something th at squinted towards mutiny among a por. 
tion of Gen. Henry’s troops. We hare Gov. Ford’s statement corroborated by Gov. Reynolds, in his 
IAft and Timet. In Gen. Bracken’s strictures, allusion will also be fo and to it. L. C. D. 




395 


two, which are of the same note, and sufficient to satisfy any one 
that there is considerable guess work about his history. 

First, he makes no mention of the killing of an Indian on the 
bank of the Third Lake, near where the Lake House now stands,' 
a circumstance known to all of the first settlers of Madison. 
Second, he says two Indians were killed about noon of the day 
on which the troops marched from this place to the Wisconsin, 
when there was but one. The incorrectness of these particulars 
and many others that might be pointed out are sufficient to satisfy 
my mind that the main objects of Gov. Ford in writing this His¬ 
tory of the Black Hawk war was, first, to make money, and next, 
to detract from the well earned fame of Gen. Dodge. 

The particulars of the battle of the Wisconsin are as incorrectly 
given as any man could give them who knows nothing of them 
whatever. The Indians are said to have flanked to the right, 
when they most certainly flanked to the left. Gen. Dodge is said to 
have refused to charge the enemy, without reinforcements; when 
the facts are that he charged them, with his single squadron 
alone, and received almost their entire fire and killed many of 
their number, before any of the Illinois forces could be brought 
successfully to bear upon them. This was in consequence of his 
position in front, where Gen. Henry had placed him for the pur¬ 
pose of receiving the first fire and terrific yell of the Indians; 
having, as Gen. Henry expressed it himself, some doubts whether 
his men would stand the first fire and the frightful savage yell; 
and well he might have some doubts of this character, as the Il¬ 
linois troops had, upon two occasions, fled at the first onset of the 
Indians. 

Upon the second charge upon this occasion, it is most untrue, 
that Gen. Dodge and his men took no part in the charge, as the 
idea is clearly conveyed in the chapters published in your paper. 
This charge was suggested by Gen. Dodge to Gen. Henry, as I 
am most credibly informed, and I know upon this occasion as up¬ 
on all others, where I was with the army, that Gen. Dodge’s 
squadron was the foremost, most prompt and energetic. To say 







396 


anything else of them is most ungenerous as well as most untrue. 
They were in their own country, defending their own immediate 
families and firesides, and it was expected of them that they 
would take the foremost rank at all times of danger, and in no 
instance was that expectation disappointed. 

At the battle of Bad Ax, Gen. Dodge and his squadron are 
again grossly misrepresented by Gov. Ford’s History, as I am 
informed by those who were there, and with whom I have con¬ 
versed since seeing the publication in your paper, and in whom 
I have the utmost confidence, as their version of the affair corres¬ 
ponds with what I have always understood to be the facts. That 
here, as upon other occasions, Gov. Dodge and his squadron were 
in front, and in the thickest of the fight; Capt. Dickson, of Grant 
county, commanded the spy company, and brought on the engage¬ 
ment between the scattering parties, while Capt. Gentry, of Iowa 
county, with his company, brought on the engagement between 
the main bodies. 

Again, it is not true that Gen. Henry was placed in the rear, 
in charge of the baggage trains. First, there were no such trains 
upon this occasion, as every man carried his own provisions. 
Second, Gen. Henry marched next in front to Gen. Dodge’s com¬ 
mand; and that Gen. Atkinson had no wish to degrade Gen. 
Henry, or detract in the slightest degree from the merit he was 
entitled to, as intimated in Gov. Ford’s History, it is only neces¬ 
sary to mention the fact, that after the battle at this place was 
over, Gen. Atkinson met Gen. Henry and Gen. Dodge both at 
the same time, and taking each of them by the hand, said, with 
much warmth and feeling: “ my brave fellows, you have forced 
me on to victory.” 

Without wishing to do the slightest injustice to Gov. Ford or his 
History, I am constrained in justice to all parties concerned, and 
injustice to the truth of history, to say, that the accounts which 
he gives of all, or nearly all, the incidents contained in the two 
chapters published in your paper, are very incorrect, and I hope 
I may be permitted to make the remark, that too many of our 


397 


histories are written by men, like Gov. Ford, who know nothing 
personally of the matters about which they write. 

The killing of St. Train and his party, and the battle of the 
Pekatonica, are very imperfectly and incorrectly given by Gov. 
Ford. I was at the burying of Mr. St. Train and his party, at 
which Aquilla Floyd was also present, who had with two 
others of the party, made his escape, and. his account of the af¬ 
fair certainly bears no analogy to that given by Gov. Ford. I was 
also an unimportant actor in the battle of the Pekatonica, and 
know the account given by Gov. Ford to be quite as I have stated. 
The affair at Pekatonica was the first defeat that the Indians 
had met with since the commencemeiU of hostilities. They were 
a chosen band of fourteen, occupying the most advantageous po¬ 
sition, under the bank of a slough completely covered, or con¬ 
cealed by thick under-brush. We were nineteen in number, and 
exposed to their cool and deliberate first fire, at which four of our 
men fell, leaving us but one superior to them in numbers. It was 
a hand-to-hand encounter, steel clashed against steel, the woods 
resounded with the most terrific yell of the savage, until the last 
one was exterminated; and had you been there, I am confident, 
Mr. Editor, you would have thought it a little more than a simple 
'killing of a few red skins. 

Up to this period, the Indians had been signally triumphant in 
every engagement. Maj. Stillman, at the mouth of the Kish-wau. 
kee River, about 30 miles above Dixon, on the Rock River, had 
been most shamefully defeated, by a force much inferior to his 
own, Soon after this, Col. (at that time Maj.) Dement, at Kellogg’s 
Grove, suffered a most disastrous defeat by a much inferior force 
to his own; and, not long after this, Maj. Stephenson, command¬ 
ing the most chosen troops of Illinois, was also signally defeated 
by the enemy.* Thus it will be seen, that the enemy had, in every 
instance, been victorious over the Illinois forces. Being em- 


* Strictly speaking, Majors Stephenson and Dement’s encounters with the Indians happened after 
the Pekatonica battle—the former on the 18th, and the latter on tho 25th of June. L. C. D. 


I 






398 


boldened by these decisive victories, achieved over much superior 
forces, and in quick succession, they conceived the bold and dar¬ 
ing project of making themselves complete masters of this coun¬ 
try, by at once attacking and destroying the defenseless inhabit¬ 
ants, which bold movement they carried into operation by a 
simultaneous attack upon the inhabitants of Apple River, Sinsin- 
awa Mounds, in Grant County, Blue Mounds, and Hamilton’s set¬ 
tlement. Gen. Dodge- had just at this period, returned from an 
expedition to Ottawa, on the Illinois River, where Gen. Atkinson 
was then at head quarters with the main forces of the army. 

Gen. Dodge had made this expedition for the purpose of repre¬ 
senting to Gen. Atkinson* the exposed and defenseless condition 
of this country, and urge upon him the necessity and importance 
of prompt and energetic movements on the part of the army. 

This was the second trip Gen. Dodge had made to the main army 
for this purpose, and for the additional purpose of obtaining some 
immediate force with which he could successfully keep the ene¬ 
my in check, until the main body could reach this country. But 
failing of this last object, he hastened home, when, after almost 
incessant marching for eight days and nights, he arrived just in 
time to meet the threatened danger, and gave the first and effec¬ 
tual check to the audacity of the enemy in the battle of the Peka- 
tonica. 

Gen. Dodge’s entire force at this time did not exceed one hun¬ 
dred and fifty men, and they were dispersed in every part of the 
country at their respective forts; but by the most prompt, energetic 
and persevering movements of Gen. Dodge,' (aided by every one 
of his officers and men,) from one point of danger to another, the 
enemy was kept in check until the slow movements of the main 
army enabled it to reach this country. After its arrival here, so 
discouraged and disheartened* were many of the Illinois troops 
with the slow and unsuccessful movements of their officers, that 
they sought to make Gen. Dodge their commander, (I say not this 
of Gen. Henry’s men, with him they were fully satisfied,) and it 
would no doubt have been fortunate for Gen. Dodge had this satis- 


3*9 


faction prevailed with the men throughout, for I am confident that 
it was the jealousy of the Illinois officers towards Gen. Dodge, 
growing out of this cause, which has given rise to the false state¬ 
ments respecting the conduct of Gen. Dodge upon the occasions 
alluded to in Gov. Fokd’s history. It is but just to say, and I do 
say it without the fear of successful contradiction, that after the 
main army reached this country, every prompt and energetic 
movement of the troops which had a tendency to overtake the In¬ 
dians and terminate the war, was suggested and urged forward 
by Gen. Dodge ; and if any particular credit is due to any one in¬ 
dividual for the successful termination of the war, it is certainly 
due to Gen. Dodge. I am confident in my own mind, and I have 
heard the remark often from men in the Illinois forces, as well as 
men of this country, that if it had not been for the prompt and 
energetic movements of Gen. Dodge, the Iudians would have 
made themselves masters of this country, despite Gen. Atkinson 
and the “ Sucker army,” as it was called. This was the universal 
impression and expression at the time of all unprejudiced per¬ 
sons. 

All the historians who have written respecting this war, have 
given Gen. Dodge the credit of being the principal man in it # 
These men, or many of them, write from dates kept by them, in 
camp, kept from day to day, and not from information given them 
by jealous and unsatisfied officers, and had it not been for the 
superior sagacity of Gov. Fokd, of Illinois, the extremely small 
and insignificant part which Gen. Dodge took, or acted, in the 
Black Hawk war would probably never have been known.— 
How long it took to make this discovery, we are not informed. 
But one thing is certain, that it never came to light until about 22 
years after the circumstances took place, and not until after the 
author, and nearly, if not quite, all of his sources of information 
had passed out of existence. 

I have not the least fears, but that a just and discriminating 
public will readily discover the true object of the historian. As 
to the secret connivance of Gen. Dodge and Doctor Philleo about 




400 


the publication of the battle of the Wisconsin in such a way as to 
rob General Henry of his merit in that affair, I know nothing, 
and moreover do not believe there is one word of truth in it. I 
know that the account published in that paper (the Galenian) of 
that battle, as well as all others, was substantially true, and I also 
know that Gen. Henry was too bold and daring a man to have 
passed unnoticed any such low and cowardly conduct. Neither 
would Gen. Dodge or Dr. Philleo (who was a brave and warm¬ 
hearted man, and an old friend and acquaintance of Gen. Henry) 
have been guilty of any such meanness. 

The letter which purports to have been written by Gov. Ford, 
to Gen. Dodge may have been written, but I am confident no such 
letter was ever received by Gen. Dodge —at least, I never heard 
of it. 

Gov. Ford endeavors to throw disrespect upon Gen. Dodge for 
assuming to be'Colonel commanding Michigan volunteers, when 
in fact he was only Major, as Gov. Ford calls him. If Got. Ford 
had been correctly informed on this subject, as ho should have 
been upon all others about which he wrote, he would have known 
that Gen. Dodge was in fact Colonel commanding Michigan volun¬ 
teers. We were then under Michigan jurisdiction, and General 
Dodge was appointed Colonel by Gen. Cass, the Governor of the 
then Territory of Michigan, and his forces were Michigan volun¬ 
teers. 

I have already extended this communication much beyond 
what I contemplated in the out-start. I am well aware, that my 
communication is not written in the same interesting, racy and 
spicy manner as Gov. Ford wrote, but it contains facts derived 
mostly from my own personal knowledge, and the remainder from 
tbe most reliable sources, and as you no doubt had no motive in 
the publication of Gov. Ford’s chapters, except that justice should 
be done to all, you will no doubt readily give this the same pub¬ 
licity. 

I would here remark, that I have not been prompted to write 
this communication by any feelings of obligation to Gen. Dodge, 


401 


or any one else; but solely that justice may be done him, as well 
as others concerned. 

I am, Sir, your obedient servant, 

PETER PARKIS OK, Jr. 



402 


APPENDIX NO. 12. 


FURTHER STRICTURES ON GOV. FORD’S HISTORY OF THE 
BLACK HAWK AVAR. 

BY GEN. CHARLES BRACKEN. 

A STATEMENT OF THE MOVEMENTS OF THE AMERICAN TROOPS PRIOR AND LEADING TO 
THE BATTLES OF WISCONSIN HEIGHTS AND THE BAD AX. 

Gen. Wm. R. Smith, Pres’t of the Wis. State His. Society: 

Sir :—Some time in the spring of 1847, Captain James H. Gen¬ 
try called on me, as I understood, at the request of Gen. Henry 
Dodge, stating that Governor Ford had in some lectures deliv¬ 
ered by him the previous winter before the Illinois Legislature at 
Springfield, in that State, made numerous mis-statements with 
regard to General Dodge, touching events in the Black Hawk 
wav , requesting me, who had served on his staff,* and as one fam¬ 
iliar with those events, to make a statement of them in writing; 
more particularly as to the means used by him at Fort Winneba¬ 
go, to ascertain precisely the whereabouts of Black Hawk and 
his warriors, and to induce Generals Henry and Alexander to 
disobey the orders of General Atkinson, (which required them to 
return to his camp by the same route by which they had marched 
to the fort,) as by returning to Rock River in a more northerly 
direction, they would place the enemy between Atkinson and 
themselves, and thereby force them to battle. 


* Lieut. Bracken acted as aid to Gen. Dodge, and adjutant of Dodge’s regiment, and was the only 
officer of Dodgs’s command who was mounted during the battle of Wisconsin Heights. Gen Bracken 
has been long and prominently in public life, and served as representative in three sessions of the Ter¬ 
ritorial Legislature—1839-40, LCD 




403 


Such statement I then declined making, which I now very 
much regret, because I put it out of the power of General Dodge 
to refute by any other than his own statement the many misrep¬ 
resentations with regard to himself, which were summed up in a 
letter addressed by Governor Ford to him, dated from Versailles., 
Brown county, Ill., April 13th, 1847. I further regret that I did 
not make such statement at that time, because, if submitted to 
Governor Ford, it might have been the means of enlightening 
him on the subject, and thereby prevented him from publishing 
many misrepresentations that now appear in his book as history. 

Having very lately perused Gov. Ford’s history, and seen in it 
so many misrepresentations, I have come to the conclusion, that it 
is a duty which I owe to the future, and an act of justice which I 
owe to Gen. Dodge, to state what I personally know, more par¬ 
ticularly regarding the movements under Dodge and Henry from 
Fort Winnebago, by which the Indians were overtaken and de¬ 
feated at the Wisconsin ; wherein I differ materially from Gover¬ 
nor Ford, as well as in some other matters touching that campaign. 

It is my intention to place this statement in the archives of 
your Society, but before I do so, I submit it to the public in print,* 
so that if I have made any misrepresentations, they may be cor¬ 
rected. I will here state, that in my narrative of the war, pub¬ 
lished in your History of Wisconsin, at page 219 in the third vol¬ 
ume, you say, “ a detachment of some 250 men, consisting of the 
commands of IJenry, Fosey, Alexander and Dodge.” You 
should have said, “ Dodge’s command of about 250 men, together 
with Henry’s and Alexander’s brigades.” I merely refer to this 
error in your history, because, if not corrected, there would ap¬ 
pear to be a discrepancy between it and my present statement. 


Every person who has read Ford’s history of Illinois, will agree 
with the author of the introduction to the work, that Gov. Ford 
Vas “ a man of strong feelings.” I knew him personally, and can 

* This article flrst appeared in the Mineral Point Democrat , April 3Gth, 1856. 


L. C. D. 






404 


bear my testimony, that if he possessed great bitterness of feel¬ 
ing towards those he disliked or considered his enemies, he was 
as warmly devoted to his friends ; and saving his prejudices, he 
was truly an honest man. It must also be apparent to those who 
have perused his history, that it has been compiled principally 
from his recollection of men and things, and from information de¬ 
rived from others. This is particularly the case with regard to 
the Blach Ilawlt war. Governor Ford did not serve in that 
war, was not present at any of the events of which he speaks, and 
consequently he has been made the instrument of some small 
men in Illinois, who are their own trumpeters, to laud their feats 
of arms and to detract from others. 

About the first of July, 1832, the army commanded by Gen. 
Atkinson, operating against Black Hawk and his warriors, moved 
up the valley of Rock River. The right wing, composed of the 
United States regular soldiers and Henry’s brigade of Illinois 
volunteers, commanded by Gen. Atkinson in person, marched on 
the east side of the river. Gen. Alexander’s brigade formed the 
centre; and the left wing, consisting of Posey’s brigade and the 
miners under Gen. Henry Dodge, rendezvoused at Wiota, and 
marched from that place about the same time for Kosh ko-nong 
Lake. 

Gen. Dodge’s command consisted of five companies of mounted 
men, commanded by Captains Gentry, Clark, Dickson, Parkison 
and Jones, and about twenty Menomonee Indians and eight or 
ten white men, commanded by Col. W. S. Hamilton. On the 
march, near Sugar River, he was joined by Capt. James W. Ste¬ 
phenson’s company of about eighty men from Galena, which made 
bis force fully three hundred men. Hear the Four Lakes, the 
White Crow, or Blind , a Winnebago chief, also joined him with 
about thirty warriors. 

Before arriving at Kosh-ko-nong, the ofiicers and men of Dodge’s 
command became dissatisfied with Posey’s brigade. Ho one ques¬ 
tioned Gen. Posey’s courage, and all admitted him to be a gentle¬ 
men, yet he'did not possess the firmness requisite to command 


405 


volunteers; and though he had under his command many intelli- 
gent and brave men and good officers, yet his want of decision 
rendered his men insubordinate and disorderly. Fearful if we 
should encounter the enemy, that they would'desert ns, and leave 
us to be overpowered by numbers, the miners to a man insisted 
on exchanging them for either Henry’s or Alexander’s brigade* 
This was effected on our arriving at Lake Kosffko-nong. After we 
had pitched our camp for the night at that place, Gen. Dodge re¬ 
paired to Atkinson’s camp, which was about six miles distant, at 
the outlet of the lake, and procured an exchange of Posey’s for 
Alexander’s brigade. Gen. Alexander having joined us early 
the next morning, we moved up the west side of Rock River, and 
on the second day joined Gen. Atkinson at the Burnt Tillage on 
Bark River. 

The provisions of the volunteers being nearly exhausted, Dodge’s 
command, with Henry’s and Alexander’s brigades, were ordered 
to Fort Winnebago, about fifty miles distant, for supplies. Gen. 
Dodge with his command of between two hundred and fifty and 
three hundred men, proceeded in advance of Henry and Alex¬ 
ander. This was a movement fraught with the greatest danger 
to him and his command; the march was directly toward the ene¬ 
my, who were estimated at from 800 to 1200 warriors. Had we 
encountered them, being beyond supporting distance from the Il¬ 
linois brigade, we must have been overpowered. Fortune, how¬ 
ever, favored us, and we reached Fort Winnebago on the evening 
of the second day, and shortly after were joined by Henry’s and 
Alexander’s brigades. 

On arriving at the fort, Gen. Dodge, at once set to work to find 
out the position of the enemy from a number of Winnebago In¬ 
dians who were at that time .at the. fort. This he effected through 
Pierre Poquetie, a half-breed and their interpreter, over whom 
he had great influence. Through him he learned that the enemy 
were encamped on Rock River, at a place now known as Hustis’ 
Rapids. Having ascertained the position of the enemy, hismext 
object was to prevail on Generals Henry and Alexander to dis- 






406 


obey their orders from Gen. Atkinson, hf varying the line of 
march in returning to his camp, So that, by striking Rock River 
above the enethy, they would place them between Atkinson and 
themselves, atid as it was known that the Indians were encum¬ 
bered with their women and children, they could be forced into 
a battle. 

The negotiation on this subject was opened first with Gen. 
Henry by Maj. James W. Stephenson, of the Galena company, 
serving under Gen. Dodge. Between Henry and Stephenson the 
closest intimacy existed; they had been arraigned together at Ed. 
wardsville, Ill., for a high crime, of which, however, they had 
been honorably acquitted. Maj. Stephenson possessed great influ¬ 
ence over Gen. Henry, and on this occasion he used that influ¬ 
ence to induce him to embrace warmly the plans of Gen. Dodge, 
The co operation of Henry being secured, the subject was then 
submitted to a council composed of the superior officers of the 
two brigades. Alexander and the officers of his brigade altoge¬ 
ther refused to join the expedition, and the officers of one regi¬ 
ment of Henry’s brigade also refused to march in that direction, 
but were finally prevailed on to do so. 

Dodge and Henry having agreed on their line of action, prep¬ 
arations were immediately made for a march. All the men of 
of their respective commands who were riding horses that were 
unfit for the expedition, were discharged. In Dodge’s command 
these amounted to about twenty-five men. He was not reinforced 
here by Craig’s company from Galena; but that company, how¬ 
ever, subsequently joined him and did good service after we had 
crossed the Wisconsin river in the pursuit of the enemy to Bad- 
Ax. Having secured the services of Poquette and a number of 
Winnebago Indians as guides, the expedition, numbering about 
seven hundred men, marched on the 15th of July, in the direction 
of the enemy on Rock River. Arriving at an Indian village on 
the river on the third day, no indications of the enemy were found 
other than some trails that appeared to be several days old. From 
here an express was dispatched to Gen. Atkinson ; this express, 


407 


after proceeding a lew miles down the river, fell in with a fresh 
trail of the enemy, evidently bearing towards the Wisconsin river, 
and immediately returned and reported their discovery. 

Poquette and the Winnebago Indians, from the time we left 
the fort, at all our halts and encampments, invariably made their 
camp-fires close to that of Gen. Dodge. No man who knew him, 
ever suspected the honesty or patriotism of Poquette. He pos¬ 
sessed unbounded influence over the Indians; treachery could not 
have existed among them in our camp without his knowing it; 
and none in that encampment ever heard before it was printed in 
Ford’s History, that Major Murray McConnell had discovered 
that those Indians were treacherous; that he had single handed 
and alone, stopped more than a dozen of warriors in their flight 
from our camp, carried them to the quarters of General Henry, 
where they confessed their treason—and all this too without the 
assistance of Poquette, their interpreter, the only man in the camp 
who C3uld render into English a single word they said !* 

* Whether Gov. Ford has made some mistake in this matter, we know not, but Gov. Reynolds, in his 
recent, Life and Times, seems to corroborate it. Reynolds states, that on the second day’s march of 
Gen. Henry and Col. Dodge from Fort Winnebago, their spies sezied two unarmed Indians who said 
they were Winnebagoes, but the whites considered them as Sauks, and spies of Black Hawk ; and with 
this impression, they were confined. That upon the return of Adjutants Woodbridge and Merrim an, and 
their Indian guide, a chief called Little Thunder, when Woodbridge narrowly escaped being shot by on Q 
of the sentinels in the dark, the two Indian prisoners, who had heard from Little Thunder that the traij 
of Black Hawk’s band had been discovered, managed to effect their escape, but were re-captured in thig 
wfse : “Major McConnell,” says Gov. Reynolds, “had been out about dark reconnoitering some dis¬ 
tance from the main army with another person, and had found the Indian trail of Black Hawk. The 
individual returned alone to the army, and reported the fact. Just at dark— McConnell was still reconnoi¬ 
tering—two Indians came through some brush-wood, within ten yards of him, and one of them gave an 
Indian whoop, evidently showing great alarm. McConnell supposed the Indians were the enemy, and 
was about shooting, when one of them cried out in tolerable English, ‘Good Indian, me !—good Win¬ 
nebago !’ McConnell immediately discovered that they were the two prisoners who had been marching 
with the army He captured them, and tied their hands behind their backs, and marched them to camp. 
In this enterprise with the Indians, and throughout the whole campaign, Major McConnell displayed 
efficiency and courage as a soldier and an officer, which won for him the approbation of the whole army. 
The Indian prisoners confessed their guilt, that they were spies for Black Hawk. They expected to be 
shot; but the General did not proclaim their guilt, and they were spared. The General acted with hu. 
manity, as the army w r as then nearly on the Indian trail, and the spies could do no injury to the whites, 
and to destroy two deluded, unarmed human beings, after their having been prisoners for some time, 
aeemed to be a cruel act. The General was compelled to exercise much care over the Indians, or soma 
volunteer might have shot them, if the fact had been known.” Maj. McConnell still lives, and is a welt 
known citizen of Illinois. L. C. D. 








408 


Having by the discovery of the express got hold of something 
tangible with regard to the whereabouts of the enemy, the pursuit 
commenced early next morning. It was rapid and persevering 
until we reached the Third Lake, early in the afternoon of the 
second day. Here Gen. Henry refused to advance, until a neck 
of land, formed by the junction of a creek with the lake, over 
which the trail of the Indians led, and which was covered with a 
heavy growth of underbrush, had been examined by our spies, 
under Capt. Jo. Hickson. After this was effected, it was deemed 
too late for a further advance that evening, and we encamped for 
the night on the bank of the lake. 

Early the next morning the pursuit was renewed. An Indian 
who was sick and unable to travel, was shot the moment the eye of 
Capt. Feed. Hickson, of Capt. Jo. Hickson’s company of spies, 
fell on him, he not being aware that the Indian was sick. This 
Indian was killed on the bank of Third Lake, within less than one 
half mile of where the Capitol now stands. Another sick or dis¬ 
abled Indian who begged for quarters was shot by Hr. Philleo 
during the pursuit. In falling, the Indian discharged his gun, and 
wounded a young man of Clark’s company, of Hodge’s command. 

The advance, from the time we left Rock River, preceded by 
Capt. Jo. Hickson’s spies, was led by Col. W. L. H. Ewing’s bat¬ 
talion of Henry s brigade, the order of march being in two col¬ 
umns. Hodge’s command becoming dissatisfied with the slow 
gait at which Ewing’s battalion led the pursuit, reasoned among 
themselves that it was safer to dash ahead, overtake the enemy, 
and fight them on terra firma , than to suffer them to reach the 
islands of the Wisconsin, where if we advanced on them, we 
would be without cover and liable to be shot in the water. They 
therefore insisted on Gen. Hodge’s taking the lead and engaging 
the enemy with his command. For this purpose the heads of our 
columns, striking off at a brisk trot, were inclined to the right 
and left of Ewing’s battalion. On seeing this movement, that 
officer urged his men forward with blows and curses, and suc¬ 
ceeded in keeping up with us, and held a position in our centre. 


409 


In this order we advanced rapidly, halting and forming once or 
twice to meet the enemy, who appeared in some numbers in our 
front, until we arrived near the Wisconsin bottom, where the 
horse guard was told off, and the men dismounted. This had 
scarcely been effected, when Capt. Diokson and his spies came 
galloping over a ridge a little in advance of us, pursued by a 
number of the enemy. The columns immediately advanced, 
Ewing’s battalion forming the centre, to the top of the ridge, and 
formed in line by wheeling the heads of columns to the right. 
One fire from our line caused the Indians to retreat as rapidly as 
they had advanced. We occupied this position until the arrival 
of General Henry with Collins’, Jones’ and Fry’s regiments, 
who, owing to our rapid advance, had been left far in the rear. 
During this delay, the enemy were concentrating their forces on 
a hill that commanded our position, about two hundred yards 
in advance of us, and kept up a constant fire on our line for fully 
one hour before Henry arrived, and arrangements were made to 
charge them. When the line of battle was formed, Dodge’s com¬ 
mand, including Ewing’s battalion, formed the right wing ; Fry’s 
regiment was ordered to occupy a position on our right, to pre¬ 
vent the Indians from out-flanking us when we charged, conse¬ 
quently this regiment was not in the action. As I before re¬ 
marked, owing to the delay of General Henry in coming up, the 
main body of the enemy had concentrated in front of Dodge’s 
command. I have no doubt but that the Indian commander, who 
occupied a high mound which overlooked our position, was de¬ 
ceived by the movement of Fry’s regiment to our right. He 
reasonably supposed that movement was to cut him off from his 
women and children at the river. He was distinctly heard giving 
an order to his warriors in a loud voice, who immediately re¬ 
treated. That the Indian commander fell into this error, is con¬ 
firmed from the fact, that just previous to the charge, the hill 
fronting the right wing was covered with Indians, and although 
our advance was over open ground and in full view of the enemy, 
yet we had none killed and but one man wounded, in reaching 
§2 





410 


the position occupied by them*. The action lasted but a short 
time after the charge. In front of Dodge’s command the princi¬ 
pal part of the Indians were killed. The greater part of the 
Winnebago Indians who accompanied us from the fort, hid in 
sink holes or sheltered behind trees, except the White Pawnee 
and the son of White Grow, who together with Poquettb fell 
into our ranks, and fought uncovered like white men. All the 
Indians, together with Foqtjette, started for Fort Winnebago im¬ 
mediately after the action. 

I have, in as condensed a manner as possible, given the move¬ 
ments of General Dodge and the volunteers under his command, 
from the time we joined Posey at Wiota, until the close of the 
battle of the Wisconsin. I have shown conclusively, if credit is 
due to any one for having overtaken Black Hawk and his forces, 
and defeating them at the Wisconsin, it is to General Dodge. He 
planned the enterprise, and owing to the generous support he re¬ 
ceived from Gen. Henry, carried it out. If he was not the actual 
commander, he was virtually so. He was the only officer holding 
the rank of Colonel (the highest rank to which lie could be ap¬ 
pointed under the Territorial law) commissioned by the Governor 
of Michigan west of the lake. He was from this appointment 
sole commander of the militia within the territory which was the 
seat of war, and from the extent of his command entitled to the 
rank of a Brigadier General. He had been appointed in the reg¬ 
ular service, as commander of United States Rangers, in which 
corps General Henry had been appointed to a captaincy under 


* The Indian commander was Black Hawk himself, if we may credit his own narrative of that af- 
feir. “ I was mounted on a fine horse,” says Black Hawk, “ and was pleased to see my warriors so 
brave. I addressed them in a loud voice, telling them to stand their ground, and never yield it to the 
enemy. At this time, I was on the rise of a hill, where I wished to form my warriors, that we might 
have some advantage over the whites. But the enemy succeeded in gaining this point, which com. 
pelled us to fall back into a deep ravine, from which we continued firing at them, and they at us, until 
it grew dark. My horse having been wounded twice during this engagement, and fearing, from his loss 
of blood, that he would soon give out—and finding that the enemy would not come near enough to 
receive our fire, in the dusk of the evening—and knowing that our women and children had had suffi- 
eient time to reach the island in the Wisconsin, I ordered ray warriors to return, in different routes, 
and meet me at the Wisconsin—and were astonished to find that the enemy were not disposed to pur¬ 
sue us.” L. C. D 



4ii ] 

him. He was by many years the senior of General Henry, and 
had been a Major General in the Statd of Missouri, and held an 
important command on that frontier in the war of 1812, when 
General Henry was in his boyhood*. That General Henry vir¬ 
tually yielded the command, and implicitly entrusted himself and 
his brigade to the direction of General Dodge, are apparent from 
his declining to write letters, although urged to do so, claiming 
the honor of the expedition and victory. 

General Henry was truly a soldier, bravest among the brave I 
He was, however, young and inexperienced in warfare of any 
kind. Being patriotic and without vanity, and anxious to put an 
end to the war, he had the good sense to know, that he did not 
detract from his own merits by yielding to the guidance of one 
having the age and experience of Gen. Dodge. 

Governor Ford states, that after the battle of the Wisconsin, 
General Dodge, in styling himself Colonel of Michigan volun¬ 
teers, assumed a rank to which he was not entitled ; he being the 
commander of a cc small battalion and that he travelled out of 
the line of his'duty when he addressed a letter to the command¬ 
ing officer at Fort Crawford (now Prairie du Chien) informing 
him of the victory over the Indians, and advising him of the 
course that ought to be adopted, if the enemy attempted to reach 
the west side of the Mississippi by descending the Wisconsin 
Hiver. I have heretofore explained the command Gen. Dodge 
held in the Michigan militia, consequently he assumed no rank 
to which he was not entitled ; and in advising the commanding 
officer at Fort Crawford of the course he thought it proper for 
him to pursue to prevent the escape of the Indians, he did no 
more than his duty. 

It having been ascertained, that our supplies of provisions were 
not sufficient to enable us to pursue the enemy across the Wis¬ 
consin, and being also encumbered with a number of wounded, 

* And in that war, it may further be added, that Gen. Henry’s father Serred under Gen. Dodge ; 
and hence it is not strange, that Gen. Henry should hare paid great deference and respect to the opin¬ 
ions of Gen. Dodge, who was so much his senior in years, and his superior in military experience. 







412 


it was thought advisable to return to the Blue Mounds, which 
could be plainly seen from an eminence near the battle ground. 
On our arrival there, Dodge’s command, including Stephenson’s 
company*, were ordered to their respective posts, with orders to 
rendezvous at Helena on the Wisconsin, as soon as General At¬ 
kinson should arrive there with the regular forces. 

Governor Ford asserts that General Atkinson and the officers 
of the regular army, were so chagrined at the success of General 
Henry in overtaking and conquering the Indians at the Wiscon¬ 
sin, that in the pursuit from the Wisconsin to the Bad Ax, Gen. 
Atkinson placed the regular soldiers in the advance, and General 
Henry and his brigade in the rear, to guard the baggage. This 
is very far from the truth. From the commencement of the 
march from the Wisconsin, Dodge’s command occupied the post 
of honor, forming the advanced guard, supported by the regular 
soldiers under Col. Z. Taylor ; Illinoisians, with Henry’s as the 
leading brigade, bringing up the rear. That Henry’s brigade 
may have marched next to the baggage train of the regular army 
is no doubt true, but not as its guard. 

It cannot be questioned that Generals Atkinson and Brady, 
Colonels Z. Taylor and Davenport, and the officers of the regu¬ 
lar army serving under them, were well qualified to judge of the 
qualifications and merits of Dodge and Henry— -no newspaper 
puffs could impose on them—they well knew to whom to attribute 
the movement from Fort Winnebago, by which the enemy was 
overtaken and defeated at the Wisconsin, and those officers felt 
that the regular army was not degraded when the post of honor 
was occupied, in the pursuit to the Bad Ax, by General Dodge and 
the volunteers under his command. 

From Governor Ford’s account of the battle of the Bad Ax, it 
would also appear, as if the action was alone fought and won by 
Henry and his brigade, while General Atkinson, with the regular. 

'* Col. D. M, Parkison, in his narrative, page 355 of this volume, states, that £ ‘ nearly all” of Capt. 
Stephenson’s company, with himself At their head, left Dodge and Henry at Tort Winnebago, and re- 
turned to the Mining country. L. C. D. 

1 2.8 

ft 





413 


soldiers and Dodge’s volunteers, were following an ignis fatuus up 
the river. 

Early in the morning, the spies under Oapt. Jo. Dickson had a 
skirmish with the Indians, in which he had one of his men severe¬ 
ly wounded. Later in the day, after the regular troops and Dodge’s 
volunteers had formed in line and advanced nearly to the top of 
the bluff overlooking the Mississippi River, Dickson again attack¬ 
ed the enemy on the river bottom. Directed by the sound of his 
guns, the regulars and Dodge’s volunteers marched directly down 
the bluff to his support. When they arrived on the ground, they 
found Dickson severely wounded, and Gen. Henry, who with his 
brigade had followed the Indian trail down a ravine to our left 
that led to the river, was on the ground, supporting Dickson. 
From the point at which Dickson was wounded, the enemy was 
followed down the river some distance, when both the regular 
troops and Dodge’s command were engaged with them; and that 
they had the severest encounter with the enemy is apparent from 
the number of men they had killed and wounded, which on the 
part of the regular troops amounted to seventeen,* and on that of 
Dodge’s to seven more, to wit: Captain Joseph Dickson, Sergeant 
George Willard, privates Smith, Hood, Lowery, Skinner and 
. Payne; of these, Smith, Hood and Lowery died of their wounds. 
In Henry’s brigade there were but five men killed and wounded.f 
On the part of the enemy, I saw but one. dead squaw and one war¬ 
rior ; there were, however, a large number of squaws and children 
taken prisoners. 

In the pursuit from the Wisconsin to the Rad Ax, it was evi¬ 
dent that the Indians were greatly distressed by starvation and 
sickness; numbers of dead warriors, women and children were 
1 found along their trail. Their principal subsistence seemed to be 
roots and the bark of trees; where they killed a horse for food, 
there was no vestage of the animal left but the hair. The day 

•Gen. Atkinson’s official report states the Toss of the regulars at five hilled and four wounded 
and nine killed and wounded of the Illinois volunteers. 

f The official report says seven killed and wounded. 


L. C. D. 







414 


before they were overtaken by the army, they were encountered 
on the Mississippi River by the steam-boat Warrior , on board of 
which were a number of United States soldiers, under Lieutenant 
Kingsbury, with two pieces of artillery; these checked their re¬ 
treat across the river until towards night, when the boat was com¬ 
pelled to fall back to Prairie du Chien for a supply of fuel. Hav¬ 
ing supplied herself, she returned the next day at the close of he 
battle. After transporting a detachment of United State i sol Rers 
under Col. Z. Taylor, to two large islands in front of the battle 
ground, where it was supposed there was a number of the enemy, 
she left next day, carrying General Atkinson, his staff, and nearly 
all the U. S. troops and wounded down the river to Fort Crawford. 
A short time previous to her departure, the celebrated Sioux chief 
Wa-ba-shaw, with a number of warriors, reported himself to Gen, 
Atkinson. He was immediately dispatched in pursuit of the 
enemy, and the little remnant of Black Hawk’s band of mei, 
women and children who had escaped into their own country from 
starvation and the bayonets and bullets of the white man, were 
nearly all exterminated by that chief and his warriors, their here. 

ditary foes.* CHARLES BRACKEN. 

April, 1856. 


* Black Hawk thus speaks of tliis needless cruelty: « On my arrival at Prairie du Chien, I found 
to my sorrow, that a large body of Sioux had pursued aud killed a number of our women and children, 
who had got safely across the Mississippi The whites ought not to havo permitted such conduct— 
none hut cowards would ever have been guilty of such ‘cruelty, -which has always be; n practised on oar 1 
nation by the Sioux.” t - ( 1 . 

Another incident of the war, which is nowhere mentioned in the narratives of the Wisconsin sur¬ 
vivors of the war, was this—gathered from Black Hawk’s autobiography, and Gen. Atkinson’s report 
of Bad Ax battle. That after the battle of Wisconsin Heights, a party of Black Hawk’s followers de¬ 
scended the Wisconsin, hoping to escape to the west side of the Mississippi, that they might return 
home* But Capt. Loomis, who commanded the garrison at Prairie du Chien, and Gen. Street the In- ! 
dian Agent, had placed a detachment, a short distance above the mouth of the Wisconsin, under the 
command of Lieutenant PtiTNER, who fired npon the distressed and forlorn Indians—capturing thirty- 
two women and children, and four men, and killing some fifteen men; and Black Hawk adds, that 
others were drowned, and the balance escaped to the woods and perished with hunger ; among this 
party were many women and children.” It is stated in the Galena Gazette , of August 6th, that on the 
4th of that month, “a party of fifteen men from Cassville, under command of Captsin Prip . „ e re re- ! 
connoitering the country between that place and the Wisconsin, and fell upon a fresh Sauk trail, mak- ! 
ing towards the Mississippi. They rushed with full speed of horses, and soon camo upon, killed and 
took prisoners to the number of twelve.” This party of gauks were probably some of those who had 1 
escaped from Lieut. Bitneb’b attack. _ L.C.D. 























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